Put Your Christmas Tree Through the Wood Chipper at Astoria Park

Astoria residents can get rid of their old Christmas trees by dropping them off at Astoria Park or Queensbridge Park between Jan. 4 and Jan. 14.

Both parks are part of MulchFest, an annual event organized by the Parks Department, where Christmas trees are recycled into mulch.

The two locations are among the 14 parks within Queens where Christmas trees can be dropped off for recycling. In western Queens, residents can also drop their trees off at Hunters Point South Park in Long Island City, Windmuller Park in Woodside, and Travers Park in Jackson Heights.

On Jan. 12 and 13, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., residents will be able to watch their trees go through the wood chipper at various sites. In western Queens, Astoria Park and Hunters Point South Park will be chipping sites.

Queensbridge Park is a drop off site only.

The mulch is used by Parks to nourish green space citywide. Visitors to chipping sites are free to take away mulch.

In recent years, Parks has mulched between 25,000 and 30,000 each holiday season.

The trees must have all lights, ornaments, and netting removed before they are brought to a MulchFest site.

The NYC Department of Sanitation will also be conducting special curbside collections for mulching and recycling of trees from Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019 through Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019.

The NYC Ferry system is set to undergo a significant expansion in coming months, with the Astoria route, connecting the western Queens neighborhood to Wall Street, getting a new stop at the Brooklyn Navy Yard this spring.

A 24-year-old Brooklyn man who crashed his car on the BQE in 2017 and left a 25-year-old Astoria woman inside his burning vehicle to die was sentenced yesterday to four to 12 years in prison, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.